Arizona Diamondbacks tip cap to rich Los Angeles Dodgers

by Nick Piecoro - Aug. 28, 2012 11:03 PMazcentral sports

Since they came into existence in 1998, the Diamondbacks always could take solace in the fact that, no matter how bleak things might have appeared, at least they did not reside in the American League East.

There were no Yankees, no Red Sox, no payroll figures that blew the rest of baseball out of the water. They knew that, although justice might not been have been blindfolded in baseball, there was no elephant on one side of the payroll scales and a mouse on the other.

And then everything changed on Saturday, when the nouveau riche Dodgers absorbed more than $260 million in salaries to acquire a package of three former All-Stars headlined by slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Now, instead of being outspent by their division rivals by, say, 50 percent every year, the Diamondbacks are facing the likelihood of being outspent by close to 300 percent.

And, they say, they don't mind.

"I have no problem competing with these folks," Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick said.

The landscape is changing across baseball. It's not just the Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays who are stuck in an unfortunate division. It's about half of baseball.

New money also has changed the AL West, where the Angels and Rangers have upped the ante thanks to 20-year television contracts reportedly worth close to $3 billion for each team.

So the Diamondbacks aren't alone. And they say they won't change the way they do business just because the Dodgers have.

"There is so much more to building a championship team than just exorbitant salaries," Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall said. "You look to the AL East as a barometer for years. It's not as if the Yankees just started spending a lot of money. They always have, and there have been plenty of winners that have come out of the AL East."

Kendrick pointed to the Rays, who have operated on shoestring budgets while reaching the postseason in three of the past four years. They're in position to make the playoffs again this season, all thanks to a homegrown roster supplemented by shrewd, affordable acquisitions.

"I'm totally fine in competing in that way," Kendrick said. "I think money doesn't always win. The evidence is in the results."

There's some truth to that. The A's and Twins proved it in the late 1990s and early 2000s just as the Rays have been proving it since 2008.

But there are just as many examples to the contrary. It took the Rays 10 years of losing -- and of collecting high draft picks -- to get on track.

The A's have missed the playoffs seven of eight years after making it four years in a row. The Twins are in last place for the second consecutive year, examples of how an unfortunate injury or a bad contract or two can expose even seemingly well-run organizations.

And then there are the free-spending Yankees, who are about to make the playoffs for the 18th time in the past 19 years. Money might not be everything. But it certainly helps.

Both Kendrick and Hall pointed out that the Red Sox were eager to unload those contracts the Dodgers took on, with Kendrick going so far as to say "it may not be that wise of a decision for the Dodgers" in the long term.

But will it matter? According to the head of consultancy for Desser Sports Media, the Dodgers could be looking at television revenues worth $8.5 billion over the next 20 years. That almost makes a bad $100 million contract look like a parking ticket.

With their surplus of young, cheap pitching, the Diamondbacks are set up to contend right away, regardless of how much the Dodgers spend. But farm systems tend to be cyclical, and if and when that talent pipeline dries up, the Diamondbacks might no longer sound so welcoming of the Dodgers' new deep-pocketed owners.

Notable: Miley's September was worse than any of his previous months. He posted a 5.90 ERA in the month; his next worst month was June (3.46 ERA). He's still among the leading candidates for the Rookie of the Year award, locked in what looks like a close race along with Washington's Bryce Harper and Cincinnati's Todd Frazier. Miley gave up five runs in six innings against the Rockies earlier this month. He has a 3.18 ERA in three starts against them. ... Pomeranz gave up four runs in three innings against the Diamondbacks on Sept. 21, but he came back to toss five scoreless innings against the Cubs in his most recent start. He's given up nine runs in 7 1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks this season. Lefties are hitting just .163 against him, but righties are hitting .293.